Re: The N Habits of Highly Effective Dungeoneers


"John H." <JohnWH@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in
news:1154021323.849831.279180@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx:

anandsr21@xxxxxxxxx wrote:
Actually there is only one habit, PATIENCE.

No, I dispute this, especially since it seems to be becoming accepted
wisdom around here. It can be quite difficult to play this way.

Patience is very useful, as long as you know when to use it; e.g. most
good players play quickly most of the time, until they see a tough
situation coming up, at which point they stop and think until they find
their best option. I know that I, personally, have in the past had to
make myself do something else for awhile first and come back to the
game an hour later before thinking of the best immediate plan.

If yes then try the gnomish healer as a pacifist.

Pacifists are quite difficult to win with. That's why it's called a
*challenge*.

He didn't mean that the OP should try for a pacifist ascension; he was
just trying to explain the protection run, his point being that the OP
could do the protection run until he's good at it and then try normal
games. This strikes me as a good way to develop several good habits,
most importantly that of being resourceful with one's available items
instead of just whacking things. On that basis, although always
starting with protection runs may not be a good method for acheiving
one's first ascension, it certainly could be useful practice if
followed by normal games that are more serious attempts at victory and
so I would agree with anandsr21 in recommending for the OP to try at
least some such starts.


Use Elbereth to avoid monsters.

I never have, and I just finished my 10th ascension a few nights ago.

And many people here have ascended as many times or more; having
ascended 10 times doesn't give your statement enough, and neither does
the fact that ascending without Elbereth being possible doesn't mean
that it isn't easier with the E-word.

Elbereth seems cheap to me.

The OP is looking for a first ascension. I had ascended several times
before I knew of tricks like Elbereth or pudding farming or whatever,
but I personally would have used whatever it took (short of actual
cheating) to get that first win up on the board; I recommend the same
mentality for new players as well.

Let your pet kill them. Let it grow to large variety.

Your pet can only get you so far, and it means you'll have to rely
more on prayer to keep you fed. Further, while keeping your level low
means weaker monsters appear, it only works for so long, and when
soldier ants *do* start appearing you'll be in a very difficult spot
with your hit points.

Try to survive till you get Protection, from the minetown priest.

That's cool IF you have enough money to pay for the protection.
Healers probably will.

And if not they (or whoever else) can credit-clone. However, note that
anandsr21 wasn't recommending that the OP actually play pacifist; the
point of these games would be to practice, i.e. just to play for a
while without killing much stuff, and then as an underpowered
character, thus improving the OP's resourcefulness.

To do this you need enormous patience and careful playing.
Once you succeed two-three times consecutively you will know
that you have built the most important habit needed to win this game.

Again, this is false. You need the patience to learn the lore of the
game, true, but the game itself doesn't really require that much
patience, in my experience.

As I said above, along with knowing when to be patient (i.e. what
constitutes a difficult situation) and know what to be thinking about
while you're being patient in those difficult situations (i.e. being
spoiled thoroughly), patience is one of what I'd consider the 3
elements most necessary for success in nethack.

- John H.


--

David

.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: The N Habits of Highly Effective Dungeoneers
    ... It can be quite difficult to play this way. ... Pacifists are quite difficult to win with. ... that you have built the most important habit needed to win this game. ... You need the patience to learn the lore of the ...
    (rec.games.roguelike.nethack)
  • Re: The N Habits of Highly Effective Dungeoneers
    ... It can be quite difficult to play this way. ... Pacifists are quite difficult to win with. ... that you have built the most important habit needed to win this game. ... You need the patience to learn the lore of the ...
    (rec.games.roguelike.nethack)
  • Re: The N Habits of Highly Effective Dungeoneers
    ... It can be quite difficult to play this way. ... Pacifists are quite difficult to win with. ... that you have built the most important habit needed to win this game. ... You need the patience to learn the lore of the ...
    (rec.games.roguelike.nethack)
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